Site Navigation

Table of Contents

If one were to take all of the anime series featuring an "always follow your dreams" message and pile them on top of one another, you'd have a stack that would reach for the stars. Maybe that's the point... In any case, Kaleido Star is indeed yet another series with a plucky heroine who tries her best to make it against significant odds. Luckily, it manages to be a redeeming and entertaining series, as well.

We at Animefringe are always looking for the next big thing. Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, recently picked up for a U.S. distribution by ADV, seems poised to be the next big American shoujo series. With karaoke, adorable character designs, and enough preteen drama to keep shoujo fans hooked, its no surprise that Mermaid Melody has already become an underground hit.

We all must live and we all must die. That is the heaven sent rule. So starts NHK and PBS's co-production of the anime version of Hi no Tori, Osama Tezuka's manga masterwork, which explores life and death and man's both important and insignificant role in the universe through the chase for the hi no tori, the firebird whose blood grants immortality.